Comments on: Mt. Diablo Flex charter school has decided to wait a year before opening http://www.ibabuzz.com/onassignment/2011/10/11/mt-diablo-flex-charter-school-has-decided-to-wait-a-year-before-opening/ Sat, 18 May 2013 03:53:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Jim http://www.ibabuzz.com/onassignment/2011/10/11/mt-diablo-flex-charter-school-has-decided-to-wait-a-year-before-opening/comment-page-1/#comment-10144 Jim Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:00:14 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/onassignment/?p=4720#comment-10144 I visited the Flex Academy in SF last year to research it as we considered enrolling our son in the Mt. Diablo Flex Academy. I was impressed by the teaching and learning that I saw there, and was surprised by what they had accomplished in terms of integrating technology into the instruction, while still offering students lots of one-on-one time with instructors. It’s an intriguing model of “blended” instruction that is also producing impressive gains at the Rocketship Academies in the South Bay. Some of the students at SF Flex had very moving stories to tell about what this option had meant for their education. (My visit was not a “guided” tour. I was free to explore and observe everywhere and talk to anyone I chose.)

MDUSD was able to delay this charter for one year, first by denying the application and then by stonewalling the Prop 39 requirements to offer a suitable facility. (They never did. The Glenbrook offer was a complete ruse. Mr. Kushner is being polite, so as not to burn bridges with the school establishment that he will probably have to seek approvals from again, at some point in the future.)

I guess a one-year delay of such an innovative school counts as a “victory” for the status quo in the minds at Dent Center. But Mr. Kushner’s letter shows that you can’t stop positive change when the tide is ready to turn. It’s a good thing for the CVCHS organizers to keep in mind: MDUSD can put obstacles in your way, but they can’t preserve an indefensible status quo forever.

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